Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #1

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It's the return of the series that will make you say, "Da fug?".

By Jesse Schedeen

I have a confession to make. I'm not a particularly huge fan of the original Seaguy mini-series. It was amusing in its own way, and I love Grant Morrison as much as anyone, but Seaguy seemed to be a case of Morrison writing weird for the sake of being weird. Sure, there was social commentary hiding under all the talking fish and smoking Easter Island statues, but you can find social commentary anywhere if you look hard enough. Seaguy just lacked a real emotional hook until the final issue, and by then it was too late to salvage the story. Maybe I'm just bitter at the bleak, depressing ending.

In any case, Morrison made it clear from the beginning he had a follow-up planned, and it's only taken five years for Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 to reach the stands. By now your eye has probably wandered over to my numeric score and noticed that I did enjoy this issue quite a bit. It's not because Morrison has radically altered his approach to the series. In many ways this sequel just feels like the start of a second story arc. The improvement comes because this mini-series carries an emotional weight the original lacked.

Seaguy nearly defies description, but at its basic level its about a utopian world full of superheroes and oddballs. After a final epic battle between good and evil, these heroes are left with nothing to do but live as mindless consumer whores and watch endless reruns of the Mickey Eye Show on TV. Morrison's critique of consumer culture is as strong as ever. Seaguy is a hero in scuba suit who never quite recovered from his escapades in the last mini-series. His best friend, a talking, floating fish named Chubby Da Choona, died a brutal death. His new best friend, a crazed parrot with a heavy Spanish accent, is a poor substitute at best. Seaguy is languishing in this perfect little world, but he's about to receive the kick in the wetsuit he sorely needs.

If any of this sounds weird so far, it barely scratches the surface of what Morrison has cooked up. Despite the weirdness, I'd say the original mini-series was pretty easy to get into by Morrison's standards. Unfortunately, because this story feels so much like a second arc, it isn't really accessible to newcomers. At all. Luckily, the first Seaguy is a mere three issues, so it's no great trial to get caught up. And I'd suggest doing so.

Part of the appeal is the zany art of Cameron Stewart. Stewart was the real highlight of the original story. As Morrison spat out one zany concept or another, Stewart kept piling them on the page with perfect aplomb. His art is very clean and unobtrusive at first glance, but after a while it become clear there's nothing in Morrison's head he can't render. Aside from that, his panels contain a great deal of storytelling depth, with interesting layouts and a strong focus on background details. In short, his work is never boring, regardless of the amount of talking animals or bearded Amazonian warriors at hand.

While Stewart is as dependable as ever, Morrison's world seems to have matured a great deal in the past five years. Seaguy has a strong emotional hook now He isn't merely a bored hero in search of adventure and finding himself in over his head. The heady themes and social commentary also feel more mature now. Morrison even manages to make Lucky an engaging figure and not some ludicrous, vaguely offensive stereotype. If I have any complaint, it's that some of the ancillary characters feel a bit pointless, but I suppose it wouldn't be a Morrison comic without all the silly trimmings.

I might not have batted an eyelash when I first learned that Seaguy was coming back, but I'm certainly glad I gave this series a second chance. Morrison has made something more out of this little project. I'm certainly excited for the remaining two issues now. After all, there simply hasn't been enough weird in my pull list since Final Crisis ended.